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This summer’s heat wave did not deter villagers from making the 31st Ruishton Village Day and Flower Show one of the best yet. The rise in temperatures rose was matched by the rise in quality of entries.

Ruishton Village Day Flower Show 19th July 2014

"Why are there pirates in Ruishton this year? Answer - because there Arrr!
This year’s Ruishton Flower Show Scarecrow competition saw Ruishton and Thornfalcon invaded by Pirates! “Captain Fat Jack” led the invasion of pirates of all shapes and sizes and Ruishton Church of England School provided a crew of 11 pirates. The judges praised the high quality of the record number of scarecrows this year.
The competition (judged Sunday 12th July), is part of the annual Ruishton Flower Show which will be held this Saturday (19th July) at Ruishton Village Hall where the winning scarecrow will be on display.Scarecrow Competition
First place – Arthur Atyeo – “Captain Fat Jack”
Second Place – Ruishton Church – “Captain George and his parrot”
Third Place – Charlene Lock – “Captain Hook”
Highly Commended – Rachael Gower & Family – “Pirate Pearl”
Highly Commended – Simon BluntThe Hanging Basket competition was also judged on Sunday see below;
First – Chris Pratt
Second – Mrs M Jones
Third – Darren Greenslade
Highly Commended – Hazel Greenslade
Highly Commended – Arthur Atyeo
Highly Commended – Anne Parker
Highly Commended – Mrs Julie Hembery

Ruishton Village Day Flower Show 19th July 2014

Weather forecasts promised torrential rain, hail and thunderstorms but this did not deter the villagers from providing the 32nd annual Ruishton Village Day and Flower Show with record numbers of entries. In the event apart from a brief shower and a rumble of distant thunder it was sunshine all the way and the heat of the afternoon was reflected in the hot competition in all of the Show’s many classes.

Pirates were the theme for this year’s Scarecrow competition and Arthur Atyeo’s winning entry “Captain Fat Jack” was brought to the Show to carry out the tradition of overseeing the “Potato Crop in a bucket” class which this year provided the judges with the mammoth task of emptying of 30 buckets and weighing the crops. The winner was Samantha Bright who received the new Potato Crop Trophy.

There was plenty of evidence of the popularity of Pirates to be found in the entries in the Children’s Classes with drawings, paintings, poems and posters depicting pirates all putting the “Arr” in Ruishton! There were so many entries in the Children’s section that they out grew the usual space in the meeting room. Grace Riches displayed a range of talents in winning the Henlade Cup for Decorated Cup Cakes and the cup for her Computer Generated Poster. Other Cup winners in the Children’s section were Lola Reed for her Wooden Spoon Person and Lizzie Blunt who took the David Berry Cup for her Bookmark, while Nathan Whitman retained the Growtage Challenge Cup for the Lego class.

The entries in the Fruit and Vegetable Sections increased over the previous year and continued to maintain their high quality. Mrs Sandra Rodgers secured the Ruishton Challenge Cup for the highest number of points in the Vegetable and Flower sections and also the Ruishton Vegetable Plate for amassing the most points in the vegetable section. Mrs Hazel Greenslade was awarded the Marshall Cup as runner up in the Vegetable and Flower sections

Rhubarb is one of the most keenly contested classes of the Show and Sue Sherry saw off fierce competition to take the Claydon Challenge Trophy. First time Show entrant, Lydia Bry, secured the Mary Rolland Millennium Cup for Pot Flowering Plant and went on to achieve further success by amassing the highest number of points in both the Handicraft Section (awarded the Arthur Jelks Tray and the Floral Art Section (awarded the Maudie Hayward Trophy) plus taking the Herbert Blaney Cup for the miniature floral arrangement. The Handicraft Section saw Paula Adams retain the cup for the Hand Knitted Article, while Paul Silvers received the Photography Cup and Sylvia Twine the Ann Bailey Cup for embroidery.

Even a power cut in the village on the eve of the Show did little to limit the number of entries in the Cookery Section, a huge variety of cakes, jams and savoury pastries which gave the judges a difficult task in deciding the winners. Hazel Greenslade displayed her culinary talents by taking the R & J Cave Cup as the overall points winner with the Walker Cup going to Mavis Skeggs as section runner up whose husband, Ken, took the cup for the men’s Victoria Sandwich. Teresa Glew was awarded the cup for the ladies Victoria Sandwich; Sandra Rodgers took the cup for the Pineapple Cake and Samantha Dash the cup for Scones. The Kathleen Frost Trophy for the Senior Citizens Group went to “Wonderful” which comprised M. Jeanes, J. Durdan and S. Creedy.

In the Wine and Drinks section entries of home-made Fruit Liqueurs continue to increase in numbers and varieties included, Strawberry, Damson, Redcurrant and Blackberry to name but a few. The Liqueur class was won by first time entrant Penny Kiss, while Lilian Marshall took firsts in the Sloe Gin and Homemade Non Alcoholic Fruit Drink and finished a close second to Paul Baker who retained the Mr and Mrs Breeze Cup as the overall points winner of the Drinks section.

The cups were jointly presented by Mark Harrison on behalf of the Schedule sponsors, Spirit Health Club Taunton, and the Mayor of Taunton Deane, Dave Durdan. The Mayor praised the villagers for supporting their annual Show in such large numbers and the Committee for organising such a successful event.